4th Fred Meyer Grocery Employee Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge Against UFCW
Portland, Ore.-area Fred Meyer grocery store employee Robert Wendelschafer has filed federal charges against the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 555. Wendelschafer alleges that union officials broke federal law by ignoring his request to resign his union membership during a union strike and are unlawfully retaliating against him by demanding nearly $1,000 because he exercised his right to rebuff union strike orders and go to work.
Wendelschafer is the fourth worker in recent months to file National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charges against the UFCW. He joins co-workers Sandra Harbison, Coyesca Vasquez and Reegin Schaffer in taking legal action to challenge retaliation by union officials after the employees defied union strike orders last year.
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All four workers are receiving free legal aid from Springfield, Va.-based National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees “whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses.”
As detailed in his charge, on Aug. 30, 2024, Wendelschafer exercised his right to resign his union membership and return to work. However, Wendelschafer alleges that on Dec. 18, union officials sent him a letter stating that they had found him guilty of violating internal UFCW rules by crossing the picket line and as a result ordered him to pay a fine in the amount of $992.
According to National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, if an employee is not a voluntary union member, he or she cannot be legally subjected to internal union discipline, like the fines that UFCW union officials are attempting to impose on Wendelschafer, Harbison and Vasquez. The organization claims that UFCW union officials backed off their discipline tactics in Schaffer’s case after her charges were filed in November, but the other charges are still pending with the agency.
Portland-area workers at Fred Meyer, QFC and Fred Meyer Jewelers stores, all Kroger-owned banners, voted in October to ratify their three-year contract following months at the negotiating table.
In an email shared with Progressive Grocer at the time, a Fred Meyer representative wrote: “Fred Meyer and QFC associates ratified a new labor contract with UFCW Local 555 that invests millions more in hourly wages. The agreement also invests millions of dollars in retirement benefits and in health care for associates working in the Portland area, southwest Washington and Bend, Ore. Our associates are the heartbeat of our business, and this contract recognizes their hard work by delivering significant wage increases, maintaining affordable health care and providing a pension for retirement.”
Cincinnati-based Kroger serves more than 11 million customers daily through a digital shopping experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner names, including Fred Meyer. The grocer is No. 4 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
